Vehicle body, especially door



Feb. 3, 1942- J. J. CALHOUN VEHICLE BODY, ESPECIALLY DOOR Filed Oct. 10, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR: John/ J Calhoun BY g -' f ATTORNEY Feb. 3,. 1942.

J. J. CALHOUN VEHICLE BODY, ESPECIALLY DOOR Filed Oct. 10, 1939 3 Sheets-sheaf. 2

. INVENTOR: I

Jbhn J. lizlhown/ BY Z;

" ATTORNEY Feb. 3, 1942. J. J. CALHOUN VEHICLE BODY, ESPECIALLY DOOR Filed Oct. 10, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR: Jo hn J dalhgun/ BY Z A TTORNE Y Patented Feb. 3, 1942 7 2.272.034 V VEHICLE Boar, ESPECIALLY noon John J. Calhoun, ifli-i'ladelphia, 'P-a., assignor 'to Edward G; Bud'd Manufacturing Company, 1 Philadelphia. fa n. corporation of 'Pennsyl- Vania I Application meter 10, 1939, Serial No. 298,749

G'CIaims- (01. 296-44) I this figure is drawn to a smallerfscal'e 'thanithe The present invention relates to vehicle doors,

particularly doors for motor vehicles, which are constructed "mainly of .metal .and g'lass.

More specifically, it relates to vehicle doors wherein grooved rails of U-shaped section are provided to receive the weather stripping which guides the slidable glass forming .part of the-door,

remaining ones;

,,Fig.2 is a side elevation, partly insection and partly "broken away, showingthe structure of the theserirails having specialelements therein for a spacing .the said weather-stripping away from the. bottom of the groove.

Theinvention further relates toproviding v tively flattened extensions at the lower endswoi the said rails, these .extensions'be'ing consider-I ablyyshallower and Wider than the rails .from which they extend and acting asflsecuring means' for the'ra'i'ls as well as forming stiffening and reinforcing .members for 'thelowerport'ion of the door. 7

The invention relatesiurthermore to providinga depression or offset in the railjadjacentllto the top of thewidened part thereo'fylto provide room for the hinge wing at this point, .while a similar ofiset may also be provided jfurtherdown;

for a second hinge or even for a third one,.-i-'f more than two are present.

.A further object is to provide .alsepara'te channel .for the window glass and which is at- 'tached tothe flattened part of the rail and arranged in alinement with .theside walls of'the. upper vertical portion of the rail and the guide member therein, so as to form a suitable guide orifoundation fortheglassand the weatherstripping. v

.Astill further-object is to provide an external overlaps the door post, said doorpost being in this region comparatively narrow in the longitudinal direction, while transversely deep. At the upper portion thelgap between the window rail and the doorpost is covered on the inside {by rabbets formed on the doorpost which in this region on the contrary is comparatively wide longitudinally but relatively shallow in the transverse direction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be particularly pointed out in'the present specification and accompanying drawings, and in'part will be obvious from the said disclosure itself.

front door; 1

Fig; 3 is a fragmentaryvertical sectional detail ofa portion of; the door, on the .plane indicated by theLline ?33 ofFig. 2;.

4 a fragmentary 'hiorlzontal {sec ional 1 detail of a portion of the door; an t adjacent portion of the "body, the section being made on the plane indicated'by the line '4--'4 of bFig.-'2

Fig.5 is "alfragmentary elevation, partly in vertical longitudinal section, "showing the structure of the guide rail and adjacent parts of .the

reardoor; I V I Fig; 6 f-is a vertical section through the door,

on the plane indicated 'by the liner-+6 of Fig.5;

- Fig. 7 is a fragmentary horizontal section through a doorpost and adjacent Jrails,.the .sec-

tion .being'made on the plane indicated by the line .1-1.1of Fig. 1; and

' :Fig. 8 is a similar fragmentary horizontal seof. tion through the'do'orpostand adjacent portions of the doors, the section'beingmade on'the plane indicated by thelinet-B'ofFig'. 1.

flange on the lower portion of the door, which of the .windows'wh'en in their closed positions,

In said drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, J I

Fig. 1, is a side elevation showing :a vehicle body, partly cutaway at one end, wherein are mounted two doors embodying the invention;

In all the views, similar parts are designated by the same reference characters.

. Referring first to 'Fig;

front door 2 may haveja relatively .large 'v'ertically slidable pane'ofjglass 18 with -a snrraller pane-9 mounted to pivot about a vertical'axis in the customary way to provide controlled venti1ation,while the rear door is shown with merely a slidable'pane of glassill. Thejfront door has a rail II which is of u-shapedycross section and within'which islocated the felt or otherweather stripping which receives the upper and side edges while the rear door likewise hasasimilar rail 12. ,It will'be understood of .coursethat while doors 2 and 3 differ-from one another somewhat. in

shape and'size, nevertheless their structural details are the same in many other respects and l certain of the same inventive features are adaptable to, and present in, both types of door.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the rail H is here shown on-a muchlarger scale, an intermediate portion of the door having been omitted so thatthe remainder may be shown in greater detail- Reference to Figure 3 takenin conjunction with Fig. 2, clearly shows the -U -shapedfcross'section of the rail n. 'It will be noted that inwardly v the vehicle body] "is vfshowmas having two doors '2 an'djB which are -mounted'bymeansofhinges 4,5, 6 andl. .The

projecting bridge members I3 and M are shown, which fill a portion of the channel in the rail and which will cause the weather-stripping I5, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, to be maintained spaced away from the bottom of the rail at a more or less uniform distance. Below the lowermost bridge I4, the bottom surface of the groove of the flattened portion I6 of the rail may be bent into substantial alignment with the tops of the bridges I4, so that such surface of portion I6 will provide a continuation of the guide.

The rail may be secured to the rail I'I formed on the inner door panel in any suitable way, for instance by the spot welds 'or other suitable fastening means such as rivets, etc.,' indicated in general by reference character IS. The said portion I6 of the rail, thus in addition to Referring now to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be seen that the door post has two characteristic shapes at its upper and lower portions. The part above the level of the metal portion of the doors 2 and 3 is shown in Fig. 7 and here the door post is wide and shallow, while the part below the metal providing a properly positioned guide for the glass, also acts as a reinforcement for the side edge of the door, which materially stiffens it.

At the opposite side edge of the door, the rail I I may have a bent portion I9, which rejoins the opposite rail II of the door at 29, so as to provide both a properly spaced guide for the contiguous edge of the glass, and a hollow or space 2| which will receive one of the wings of a hinge, as indicated at 22. This wing may be secured by means of bolts or rivets 23 or in any other suitable manner.

The outer metal covering 24 may extend beyond the front and rear vertical edges of the door, and may overlap the same, as shown at 25, so as to produce a reinforced edge and at the same time improve the appearance of the door and increase its protective properties. The upper edge of the outer metal covering 24 may be bent downwardly as indicated at 26, to produce a finished reinforced edge, as clearly shown.

The inner metal plate 21 may be similarly bent, as shown at 21'. The bends 26 and 21 are shown in cross section in Fig. 3. This figure and Fig. 4 also show the widened offset portion I9 of the rail II as well as the rivets 23 which secure the wing 22 of the hinge 4 to the door 2. The companion wing 28 of the hinge 4 is secured to the channel member 29 extending along the door opening of the body I, as shown in Fig. 4; 3|) represents the hinge pin.

While in Fig. 2 the rail itself has a portion I6 bent into alignment with the tops of the bridge members I4, in Figs. 5 and 6 separate rails are shown to accomplish the same purpose. In these figures the rail I2 may have the bridge members I3 and I4 applied thereto, and below the region of said members it may be bent as at I9, identical with the offset I9 shown in Fig. 2, to provide a pocket for receiving the hinge wing 32 of hinge 6 but below the portion 20, at which the rail again adjoins the metal covering 3| of the door, this rail continues downward in its flattened shallow form to where a further offset I9 substantially identical with the upper bend is provided near the lower end of the door to form a pocket to receive the wing 33 of the lower hinge 1, below which the rail again continues in substantial alignment with the inner face of the metal of the door, to which its end 34 and intermediate sections may be secured. The members hereby strongly reinforce the member 3|.

In order to provide suitable guide means for the weather stripping in this form of construction, an auxiliary rail section 35 may be suitably fastened to the flange portion of the rail II, for example by spot welds I8 or the like.

portion of the doors is shown in Fig. 8, and is narrow but relatively deep. The width of that portion of the post which lies between the two doors is of course approximately uniform, but the characteristic differences of shape are due to the lateral flanges of Fig. 7 or the extra depth of Fig. 8.

In Fig. 7, the post has its outer surface formed of the sheet metal member 35, which is bent successively at 31, 38, 39, 40, 4| and 42 to the configuration illustrated, thus producing a somewhat trapezoidal hollow center portion, having bent flanges at its base, in which is received and secured a closure member 43 with upstanding flanged edges 44 and 45, which are fastened to the other member by spot welds or other suitable means I8. The rails II, I2 abut against suitable sealing means, such as the rubber strips 46 and 41, to provide weather-tight joints between the doors and the door post.

In Fig. 8, the post is formed of a substantially U-shaped piece of metal 43, a closure member 49 being inserted between the inner ends of the arms of the U, as shown. The closure 49 is a substantially flat piece of metal with upstanding flanges at its edges as shown at 56, and these flanges are secured to the member 48 by any suitable fastenings I8, such as spot welds or the like. In order to reinforce the door post, a U-shaped insert 5| may be built thereinto, said insert fitting against the adjacent walls of the members 48 and 49. Thus a secure support for the door hinges is provided. The hinge 6 is here shown as fastened to the door post by fastenings 23 passing through the wing 54 of the hinge and through the insert 5| and member 48. The members 36 and 48 on the one hand and 43 and 49 on the other hand are preferably together on stamping each.

While the structure and operation of the invention have been clearly explained in detail hereinabove, it may be well to summarize the same briefly as follows:

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the vehicle body I is provided with two doors, 2 and 3, which have opaque or closed lower sections, each surmounted by an open portion terminating in a U-shaped rail which is adapted to receive and guide the glass window of each door, these windows being operable in any desired or known way.

Between the two doors is a vertical door post, the lower portion of which is relatively narrow, as best illustrated in Fig. 8. The front door 2 is hinged to the front edge of the body opening and extends rearward, while the rear door 3 is hinged to the rear edge of the door post and extends rearwardly therefrom. The rear edge of the front door and the front edge of the rear door are placed very close to one another, so that when the doors are closed these edges will practically conceal the narrow lower portion of the door post, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. At the same time the door flanges extending beyond the door frames will overlap the adjacent edges of the vehicle body, so as to conceal and protect the remaining openings or cracks, thus adding to the appearance and simultaneously providing a better sealingeffect, By reason of the fact thatthe hinge pins are spaced somewhat'be--' yond the: outside of thevehicle body, it is possible for the doors'to open without causing the overlapping flanges thereof "to interferewith the adjacent edgesof the door frames in so doing; The relatively great depthof the rails ll and I2 provides a stiff and rugged construction and also adds to the appearance, while the spacing bridges l3 and I4 will decrease the depth of the channels in said rails so that it is possible to wall thereof, saidrail having a relativelydeep provide properly alinedguides forthe weather.

stripping which receives and. guides the glass panes. It is thus possible to bring the outer edges of the rails into substantial alinement with the vertical side-edges of the doors.

inforce the latter, and-- extending substantially to the'bottornthereoffif T I 2 A vehicle door havingaclosed lower section and an open uppersection, with a transparent panel mduntedtherein to close or open 's'aid "upper section at will, a guide rail extending-i1pwardom,-arid "also a substantial distance downwardinto; said. 1ower sectionadjacent anfend and narrow U-shaped cross section above the ,lower section of the'door, merging into a relatively-shallow and wide flattened U-shaped cross" section within the same, said flattened portion The widened and flattened portions ofpthese" rails form excellent reinforcing members for the end walls of the doors, while the additional narrow rails superimposed on said flattened portions within the lower sections of the doors constitute effective continuations of the narrow parts of the rails, so as to provide adequate guides for the glass panels.

It will be noted that the upper part of the door post is narrower in a transverse direction than the portion between thelower sections of s the doors, as will be evident from Figs. 7' and .8.

In this way a neater construction is provided which mergeslbetter into the relatively thinner upper portion or ceiling of the body, while at the same time spreading longitudinally to provide stiffness as well as to accommodate the rabbeted rubber or other strips and 41, against which the guide rails seat when the doors are closed. It will be seen also that the gutter 52 projectin from the top 53 will catch any drip and conduct it away from the doors, said gutter extending downward sufliciently for this purpose, but

of the rail II, as

able forms for instance by a continuous strip, havin depressed and raised' portionsand .of.

which the depressed portions are fastened to the bottom of the channel I l or 12.

being secured to the said adjacent end wall, to reinforce the latter.

3. Avehicle door having a closed'lower section and anopen upper section, with atransparent {panel mounted therein1to close or open. said upper section at will, a guiderail extendin upward from,'and also a substantial distance downward into, said lower section'adjacent an end wall thereof, said rail havin a relatively deep and narrow U-shapedcro'ss section above the lower section of" the door, merging into arelatively shallow and' wide flattenedU-shaped cross section within the same, said flattened portion being secured to the'said adjacent end wall, to v reinforce the latter, said flattened portion being however ofiset from said end wall throughout-a part of its length, to form an aperture to receive a hinge wing between it and the wall.

4. Ina vehicle doorhaving a closed lower section,- and an open upper section, with a, transparent panel movably mounted: therein to close or open said upper section at will, a guide railgof substantially U-shaped cross section secured 'to said lower section, said rail having arelatively deepand narrow, U-shapedcross section above the lower section of thedoor, mergin into a relatively shallow and wideflattened 'U-shaped cross section within'the'same, ,anda' guide rail 7 member having substantially the same width and effective depth as-the said'deep part of the firstnamed guide rail, said member being secured within the lower section of the door in substantial alinement with said deep part-of th firstnamed guide railso asto constitute acontinuation o'fthesame,

While the invention has been described by" reference to an example which is at present believed to embody the preferred form, thereof, it

should be clearly understood that this example is'disclosed purely for the purpose of illustration and not to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined solel in the following laims. I claim: x

l. A vehicle door having a closed lower section and an open upper section, with a transparent panel mounted therein to close or open said upper section at will, a guide rail extending upward from, and downward into, said lower section, said rail having a relatively deep and narrow U-shaped cross section above the lower section of the door, merging into a relatively shallow and wide flattened U-shaped cross section within the same, said flattened portion being secured to the adjacent end wall of the door to re- 5. In a vehicle door having a closed lower section, and an open upper section, with a transe parent panel'movably mounted therein to close or opensaiduppersection at will, a guide rail of substantially U-shaped cross section secured to-said lower section, saidrail havinga relatively deep and narrow U'-shaped cross ,section above the-lower section of the door,'mergin into a relatively shallow and wide flattened U'-shaped cross sectionwithinthe same, spacing means 10- cated at intervals within the'dee'p'portions of the rail to decrease its, effective depth and a guide 'rail substantially the. same in width as the said deep part of the first-named guide rail and I secured within the lowerv section of the door with its own bottom in substantial alinement with the tops ofthe spacingmeans, to constitute asubadjacent to said door posts being provided with,

a laterally extending flange adapted to overlap door and. a door post, said door comprising 'a lower the space between the door and the door posts in the closed position of the door, the upper portion of said door bein free from said flange, the thickness of the door'posts in the region of the lower door portion being about equal to the 5 thickness of this lower door portion, the upper 1 door posts portion which is adjacent the upper door portion being of considerably less thickness 

